musicals and operas feature

George Square gets musical

Chris Grady on the Fringe’s newest venue

This time back in 1976 Chris Grady would have just woken from his comfy bed of drapes on the stage of the musical revue ‘Over the Rainbow’ in Lauriston Hall. Too broke to afford insurance for equipment, Chris, and the rats – accompanied by some young groupies – guarded it the old-fashioned way. Fast-forward 32 years and Chris is now Programming Director at the new venue of the Edinburgh Fringe, Musical theatre @ George Square: “It’s a musical theatre hub. An opportunity for audiences to experience new musical theatre at an affordable price”. And with the credit crunch ever spiralling this is great news indeed.

So how did it all come about? Chris grins broadly: “Paul Gudgin [former Director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society] and I were chatting three years ago about creating an award for musical theatre – this is the second year of its existence – when he set me a challenge. He asked ‘If I found you a venue to run musical theatre in would you do it?’ I answered ‘Absolutely!’ This should have happened twenty years ago but now we’re really ready for it”.

Discussions began with the University of Edinburgh twelve months ago and on the 9th January 2008 the good news came through; the venue had been confirmed and programming now began in earnest: “I was looking for new work, producers and colleagues that hadn’t been to Edinburgh before and went on the Fringe roadshows. Some shows that I programmed hadn’t even been written yet. The idea for ‘Sex And The Village’ – a musical in the style of ‘The Vicar of Dibley’ – was written on the back of a fag packet. I went with my gut instinct and contacts that I knew, such as Arianna Krapp, producer of ‘Queen of Wyoming’ and ‘Coming Up For Air’, two shows that I knew nothing about”.

What is it about musicals that attracts you? “It’s the thrill you get; the emotional journey. My all-time favourite is ‘Sweeney Todd’. I’ve never been bored watching a production but the most thrilling I saw was at Perth Theatre in the late 80’s with the great opera singer Donald Maxwell in the title role.”

Chris, whose former career highlights include Publicity Manager at the Edinburgh International Festival, General Manager at the Pleasance and Licensing Manager for Sir Cameron Mackintosh, is pleased with this year’s Fringe tale so far: “It’s been going great. It’s our first year so we have nothing to compare it to. Shows like ‘Departure Lounge’, ‘Only The Brave’ and ‘Sa-Choom’ are getting large queues and selling out. ‘Perfect Pitch’ which was a one off event showcasing completely unknown performers, had a massive queue. Hopefully the venue will be here again next year and so will I.

“One of the nicest things is how supportive all the other venues have been. Although I complained to Karen Koren earlier about my lack of sleep, the Library Bar is open and I can’t stop going there!”

http://www.festivals.ed.ac.uk

published: Aug-2008

Other articles you may find interesting

• What’s wrong with the Edinburgh Festival? / Responding to the opinions expressed so far, actor, theatre company owner and Fringe board member Alister O'Loughlin gives his perspective / FEATURE »

Pot-luck Google Topics